CINCINNATI, Ohio — Novak Djokovic overcame a match point and stifling heat to beat world number one Carlos Alcaraz 5-7 7-6(7) 7-6(4) and win the Cincinnati Open in a heart-pounding thriller.
Djokovic collapsed on his back and ripped his shirt open after triumphing in the nearly four-hour contest to get revenge for his loss to the young Spaniard in last month’s Wimbledon final.
“So much to say and so little energy,” Djokovic said while collecting his third Cincinnati Open title.
“It has been a roller coaster and definitely one of the toughest and most exciting matches that I’ve ever been a part of in any tournament.
“It did feel like a Grand Slam final, even more than that, to be honest.”
The Serb was hobbled by the intense humidity in the tail end of the first set, barely moving when Alcaraz hit a backhand winner to grab the opener.
Alcaraz raced out to a 4-2 second-set lead and it appeared he might cruise to the finish line as his 36-year-old opponent looked cooked in the Ohio sun.
But Alcaraz would produce a poor service game while leading 4-3 that included four unforced errors to give life to the world number two.
In the second-set tiebreak Djokovic saved a championship point and went on to force a deciding set after winning a 25-shot rally.
During the break before the third set, a frustrated Alcaraz pounded his right hand against the plastic drinks container next to his chair, requiring a medical time out to tape his finger.
In the decider, Djokovic broke for a 5-3 lead but would then squander two match points in the next game.
The drama would continue when Djokovic missed an overhead for 5-5 and the players would ultimately arrive at another tiebreak, which Djokovic won on his fifth match point of the contest.
“It is going to be tough for me to talk right now but I tried to do my best,” Alcaraz said.
“I want to congratulate Novak once again. It’s amazing to play against you, share the court with you, learn from you. This match was really close but I learned a lot.”
The win delivered Djokovic his 95th career title and 39th Masters 1000 crown.
The tournament was Djokovic’s first on US soil in two years after he was barred from entering the country because he is not vaccinated against Covid-19.
He will look to add a 24th Grand Slam trophy to his collection at the upcoming US Open, which runs from August 28-September 10.
“Every one of our matches goes the distance,” Djokovic said to Alcaraz. The pair are now 2-2 in their generational rivalry.
“Hopefully we can play in some weeks’ time in New York,” he said.
Elsewhere, American tennis star Coco Gauff took down Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 in final to win the Cincinnati women title.
It marks Gauff’s first title at a WTA 1000 event — two weeks after she won in Washington for her first career WTA 500 title.
At 19, she became the youngest woman to capture the title at the Cincinnati-area event.
“I was a little tired coming into the match,” Muchova said. “I knew I have to play fast, not be in the rallies, because it’s been many three-setters here for me, long matches, tough matches. To play day after day and not have the day off, it’s very physical.”
Gauff won 35 of 50 first-service points (70 per cent) and saved six of nine break points.
Gauff won four of the final five games in the first set. Then she took a commanding 5-2 lead in the second set by breaking Muchova’s serve twice. She failed to convert on three match points in the eighth game of the set but got it done in her next service game.
Gauff, the No. 7 seed, took down World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland for the first time in eight attempts in semi-final match before defeating Muchova, who is ranked 17th in the world.
Swiatek, winner of three of the last six Grand Slam titles, survived three match points before Gauff finally finished off the upset to the delight of a large crowd that loudly supported the American.
“It feels really good,” Gauff said. “It shows that I can be at that level, or compete at that level at least. I’m sure I’m going to face her many more times. I still think that I’m not even to the peak of my game.”
The seventh-seeded Gauff hadn’t won more than four games in a set against Swiatek since their first meeting in Rome in 2021 until winning the tiebreaker to take the opening set.
“Today I fought to the end,” Swiatek said. “Coco, she’s a great player. This one, she deserved it more. My tank of fuel is pretty empty. I’m happy to have some days off.”
With No.3 Jessica Pegula winning Montreal last week, this is the first time Americans have swept the WTA 1000s in Canada and Cincinnati.
It is the first time Americans won back-to-back WTA 1000s since 2015, when Serena Williams won Cincinnati and Venus Williams won Wuhan.
Since losing in the first round of Wimbledon, Gauff has now won 11 of her last 12 matches, picking up the two biggest titles of her career during that span.
In the first career meeting between the two, Gauff overcame a sluggish start to hold off Muchova’s attacking net game to extend her career record to 5-1 in Hologic WTA Tour finals.
With steady work from the baseline, Gauff held Muchova to just four winners in the opening set, compounded by 13 unforced errors.
Muchova came into her first WTA 1000 final, having spent over 10 hours on the court, with all her completed matches going a full three sets during the week. After a two-and-a-half-hour effort to upset No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, the 26-year-old struggled to match Gauff’s energy.
